It is known that in the course of a flight violent turbulences related to vertical wind bursts can cause at the aircraft level:
significant variations in vertical load factor capable of causing injuries to the passengers of the aircraft;
a significant altitude swing of the aircraft, thereby increasing the risk of collision with another aircraft; and
lift surges on the wing, which tax the latter's load limits.
These violent turbulences can appear in clear sky and remain unforeseeable. Often, these phenomena which are localized surprise both the crew of the aircraft and the onboard piloting systems, which do not have time to perform the appropriate maneuvers to attenuate the effects thereof which result therefrom at the aircraft level.
It will be noted that, for a transport airplane, the appearance of negative vertical load factors is very dangerous for the passengers who are not firmly attached. They may indeed be thrown onto the ceiling and risk serious injuries.
The aforementioned problems are accentuated by the diversity of possible vertical turbulence profiles.
The object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks. It relates to a method making it possible to attenuate, in a particularly effective manner, on an aircraft, in particular a transport airplane, the effects of at least one vertical turbulence encountered by this aircraft in the course of a flight.
For this purpose, according to the invention, said method is noteworthy in that the following series of successive steps is carried out in an automatic and iterative manner in the course of the flight:
a) a vertical component of the wind existing outside the aircraft is determined at a current position of said aircraft;
b) with the aid of this vertical component of the wind, a severity level relating to a vertical turbulence existing outside the aircraft is determined at said current position;
c) with the aid of said vertical component of the wind, at least one control order is calculated for at least one controllable movable member which is capable of acting on the lift of the aircraft, said control order being such that it makes it possible to minimize the amplitude of the load factors generated on the aircraft by the vertical turbulence; andd) a check is carried out to verify whether activation conditions depending at least on said severity level are realized; ande) if said activation conditions are realized, said control order is transmitted to at least one actuator of said controllable movable member.
Thus, by virtue of the invention, a severity level of the vertical turbulence is determined so as to ascertain whether it is necessary to implement actions for attenuating the effects of the vertical turbulence. When such actions are necessary, the total lift of the aircraft is acted on (by way of said movable member), thereby making it possible to minimize the amplitude of the vertical load factor at any point of the cabin of the aircraft. The present invention thus makes it possible to combat the abrupt variations in vertical load factor that are generated by violent vertical turbulences of the aforementioned type.